Almost Together
by SpiritMaster9000
Summary: A collection of one-shots where Blues and Kalinka Cossack almost get together before getting interuppted. Unconnected unless specified.


_AN: Kalinka is in her __mid-__20's for this one-shot. Blues is __out his armor and looks like he does in Mega- and Gigamix_

"You really are beautiful, you know that?"

Kalinka stiffened and flushed at that, unsure how to process what she just heard. It wasn't the first time she heard Blues say something out of the ordinary like that. He always tended to blurt out things when he let his energy reserves get too low and needed an emergency stasis charge. Sure, most of those comments were usually about her family or his father and had nothing to do with his opinions on their appearances, but still, it wasn't anything she wasn't used to. She was well aware of the looks many men and no small amount of women had given her during her visits to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Still, it was nice hearing it in his voice, imagining that he wasn't just stating the obvious.

"I'm sure you say that to all girls you meet," she said, trying (and failing) to stifle her blush while she dragged him to one of her father's stasis pods. She was well aware of his ability to charm nearly every single person he came across during his travels, trading his songs and knack for jury-rigging for supplies and shelter. It was a necessary gift for surviving out in the wilderness without proper diagnostic equipment, and it would be a terrible waste of his talents if he didn't make the most of them. So what if the thought of him whispering sweet-nothings into another women's ear sometimes made her blood boil? So what if the thought of him giving private whistle concerts to a random girl made her see red? So what if the thought of him forgetting her made her…

"You're wrong," Blues said, as he suddenly stopped walking with Kalinka, interrupting her thoughts. "You know me better than that, Kali. You know I wouldn't say something like that to you unless I really meant it."

"This can't really be happening right now, can it?" Kalinka thought, as she tried to steady her heartbeat and get the blush she was sure covered her entire face under control. Blues couldn't really be doing what she thought he was doing, could he. Her thoughts turned back to a time when she thought she and Blues could have had something a little deeper than just friendship. She had been too scared then to confess her feelings to him, and he never seemed to pick up on the hints she (quite obviously in her opinion) had dropped during his visits to her home. She tried moving on from, dating boys her own age, but she was never able to find someone who captured her heart as thoroughly as he had. And now here he was, effectively sleep-deprived and rambling about how beautiful and strong she was while making him drag his heavy butt halfway across the Citadel to find him a halfway decent place to rest and charge up. "C'mon Blues, you're not thinking straight. I need to get you to a charging pod before you shut down completely. I know how much you hate not having your security programs turned on while you charge up, so I need to..."

"No, there's something that I need to say you first, before I lose my nerve!" Blues shouted, forcing Kalinka to stop and face him. "I know I can't give you everything you've always wanted. I don't have a castle to whisk you away to when things get tough and you need a place to hide. No matter how much I wish otherwise, I can't get rid of the nightmares I know you sometimes still have thanks to that monster. And no matter how much we may both wish otherwise, I can't give you a family, not in the way another human can."

Blues stepped forward, forcing Kalinka to step back to the wall, her heart and breath racing even faster as those old childhood dreams came closer to reality.

"There's so much more that I need to say right now, but I don't think I have the time to say them right now."

He cupped her chin, lifting her head up.

"I..."

The blush Kalinka had somewhat suppressed earlier returned with a vengeance, as she slowly realized what was going on.

"Love..."

His face drew closer, and as they did, his glasses slid down ever so much, revealing a sight that even Kalinka wasn't all too familiar. A gentle set of blue eyes, half-lidded yet still full of such intense affection and adoration that they seemed almost human. She could feel his breath now on her lips, and she closed her eyes as she prepared for…

His face slamming into the wall behind her.

With a start, Kalinka's eyes shot upon and looked upon the man who had once again captured her heart. His power supply had just given out, and he would now need a full system restart. He would wake up groggy and no worse for wear, but without a record of the past hour.

He wouldn't remember his arrival at the Cossack Citadel, his confession, his near kiss.

_Their _near kiss.

With a huff and a sigh Kalinka picked up Blues, carefully placed him on her back, and carried him to a spare charging pod. There was nothing she could really do about what had just happened between the two of them. She would just have to move on and pretend that everything was still the same.

And yet, as Kalinka placed him into the pod, she realized that she had an advantage over her younger self.

She knew how Blues felt about her.

Placing a kiss on his forehead, she closed the pod and gave it one last glance before she headed off to her room.

She wouldn't let him go this time, not after years on wondering and hoping.

She would prove to him that he was more than capable of giving her everything she had ever wanted.

After all, he already had.


End file.
